CHICAGO -- Rahm Emanuel's floor leader in the Chicago City Council says the mayor plans to hire "hundreds" more police officers after the city's deadliest month in decades.

Alderman Pat O'Connor said Thursday that the hirings tied to the mayor's 2017 budget aim to bolster manpower at the police department. Earlier Thursday, police announced there were 90 homicides in Chicago during August, making it the most violent single month in the city since August 1996.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that O'Connor called the move "less of a change in strategy and more of a response to this incredible streak of gun violence." He also cited a high number of police retirements. He didn't explain how it would be funded.